Week Seventeen – Support a Good Cause

I have a confession to make… and I really don’t care if it makes me sound like a nerd. It’s the truth. The confession is, I love the library. Love it. Especially the downtown Salt Lake Library. Not only does the exterior look like a six-story piece of curving mirrored modern art, the interior is just as amazing: glass elevators, little cafes and stores, fireplaces, and any book you could possibly imagine.

The library also hosts some of the coolest lectures, movies, festivals, and exhibits around. And this weekend, there were two events being held there that I wanted to support.

The event where I spent the most time was called the Live Green SLC! Festival. It was advertised as a showcase for “sustainable green products, services and ideas”, and it included interactive and educational exhibits, local and organic foods and crafts, eco-carnival games, and all sorts of entertainment.

Right as I walked through the gates, volunteers were passing out a guide that contained information on green businesses in Utah, community resources, and some educational articles. There were all sorts of exhibits teaching about everything from renewable energy to effective compost for gardens. There were several businesses there, advertising things like organic carpet cleaning, direct-source natural foods, and all-natural cosmetics.

While all the booths were interesting, the first thing that I was drawn to was the live music area where a great band was performing. The music itself was really fantastic, but the thing that caught my attention was the generator the band was running its equipment from. It was totally solar powered and doubled as a DJ station between the bands’ sets. Awesome.

Coolest. Generator. Ever.

I made a couple of friends while the band was playing, both coincidentally named Joseph. The first Joseph I noticed because of his uninhibited and free spirited dancing in front of the band. A little kid was watching and imitating him, and I laughed and pointed it out to him. Pretty soon we were playing with the kid and dancing to the music. An older Native American man came up to us and introduced himself as Joseph also. He was drunk, but still really sweet. He talked about how he played the drums and shared some other parts of his life. When he left, he kissed my hand.

My new friend, Joseph, gave me the stem of hyacinth in my hand. He was a gem.

After the band finished their set, I walked around and checked out some of the exhibits. There were so many interesting people to talk with, and everyone was so friendly and open. I stopped at the doTERRA essential oils exhibit (I love and use the oils) and spent a lot of time talking with a man named Jared and his wife. They were letting everyone sample their own personal set (which would have cost them a lot of money) and were so genuinely interested in helping me. As I talked with them more, I found out that they had recently lost the baby they had been expecting. They were such good people that I wanted to help them in return. I told the wife about the emotional release therapy I do and gave her my phone number. I’m not sure if she’ll call, but I hope she does.

I spoke with a chiropractor, named Dr. McEntire, who uses thermography- a temperature-sensitive instrument that scans the spinal column and measures the function of the central nervous system. Pretty amazing. I also talked with a really nice man named Paul, who was a certified Rolfer. I knew Rolfing dealt with structural integration, but I didn’t know much about it. It’s sort of like massage, but effects the body in a way similar to chiropractic work by manipulating the fascia in the body. Paul explained more and even let me lie on his table while he demonstrated it for me.

Paul doing some Rolfing, which is actually very cool, despite sounding like a euphemism for throwing up…

After spending a good part of the day outside of the library at the festival, I went inside to look at the exhibit on Anne Frank that was on display. I walked through the timeline and pictures chronicling the circumstances surrounding Hitler’s rise to power and the Frank family’s ordeal. There was also a model of the secret annex and a video presentation on Anne.

The exhibit quoted philosopher George Santayana in saying, “Those who cannot remember the past are doomed to repeat it.” I think that focus on looking to the past and attempting to create a better future encapsulates both events at the library that day. And that type of education is definitely a cause worth supporting.

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One thought on “Week Seventeen – Support a Good Cause”

Sarahsays:

I love the library too. One of the best jobs I ever had had nothing to do with the actual job (it was basically just an office job)…it had to do with the location. This job was right across the street from the Salt Lake City Library. I would go there every lunch hour and check out music and books on CD. So much fun!